D8 MALDONADO. [cuap. 111 
together (in this respect resembling the Carranchas) wait at the 
mouth of a rabbit-hole, and together seize on the animal when 
it comes out. They were constantly flying on board the vessel 
when in the harbour; and it was necessary to keep a good look 
out to prevent the leather being torn from the rigging, and the 
meat or game from the stern. These birds are very mischievous 
and inquisitive; they will pick up almost any thing from the 
ground; a large black glazed hat was carried nearly a mile, as 
was a pair of the heavy balls used in catching cattle. Mr. 
Usborne experienced during the survey a more severe loss, in 
their stealing a small Kater’s compass in a red morocco leather 
case, which was never recovered. These birds are, moreover, 
quarrelsome and very passionate ; tearing up the grass with their 
bills “from rage. They are not truly gregarious; they do not 
soar, and their flight is heavy and clumsy; on the ground they 
run extremely fast, very much like pheasants. They are noisy, 
uttering several harsh cries; one of which is like that of the 
English rook ; hence the sealers always call them rooks. It is 
a curious circumstance that, when crying out, they throw their 
heads upwards and backwards, after the same manner as the 
Carrancha. They build in the rocky cliffs of the sea-coast, but 
only on the small adjoining islets, and not on the two main 
islands: this is a singular precaution in so tame and fearless a 
bird. The sealers say that the flesh of these birds, when cooked, 
‘is quite white, and very good eating; but bold must the man be 
who attempts such a meal. 
We have now only to mention the turkey-buzzard (Vultur 
aura), and the Gallinazo. The former is found wherever the 
country is moderately damp, from Cape Horn to North America. 
Differently from the Polyborus Brasiliensis and Chimango, it 
has found its way to the Falkland Islands. The turkey-buzzard 
is a solitary bird, or at most goes in pairs. It may at once be 
recognised from a long distance, by its lofty, soaring, and most 
elegant flight. It is well known to be a true carrion-feeder. 
On the west coast of Patagonia, among the thickly-wooded islets 
and broken land, it lives exclusively on what the sea throws up, 
and on the carcasses of dead seals. Wherever these animals 
are congregated on the rocks, there the vultures may be seen. 
The Gallinazo (Cathartes atratus) has a different range from 
